Chapter 10
Do You Think We’re a Joke? (1)
The days following Tae Jeong’s death passed peacefully.
For the time being, the effect his death had on everyone was positive, because Wang Gon, the man directly connected to him, had yet to return.
Thanks to that, the merchants were able to enjoy a rare stretch of peace.
Im Chung had much on his mind, as did Beon Saeng, but neither showed it.
Baek Socheon’s daily life remained unchanged as well.
During the day, he worked in silence. Once his duties were finished, he immersed himself in his own training.
Every so often, he undertook a special kind of training.
Tonight was one of those nights.
Baek Socheon was currently climbing the sheer face of the tallest rugged mountain near Wencheng with his bare hands.
And he was not simply climbing it.
He was ascending with the leather pack he had brought when he first arrived at his post strapped to his back.
Without internal energy, a fall from this height would leave him gravely injured.
Baek Socheon focused his mind as he gathered strength into the tips of his fingers.
Everyone believed Baek Socheon was broken, but Baek Socheon himself had never once given up on restoring his martial arts.
Over the past three years, he had repeatedly pushed his body to its limits and gradually expanded those limits.
Anyone else who learned of the intensity of his training might have thought it far too reckless, but Baek Socheon adjusted the difficulty according to a meticulous plan.
His body had already recovered to the condition it had been in before his injury.
No, it was in even better condition now.
It was a near-miraculous result born from his desperate determination to compensate for his lack of internal energy.
Using that powerful body as his foundation, Baek Socheon continued climbing toward the summit.
He nearly slipped and fell at one point, but he refused to give up.
At last, Baek Socheon reached the top of the cliff.
He tossed the heavy leather pack to the side and sprawled flat on his back.
“Huff, huff, huff, huff, huff.”
Baek Socheon finally released the breath he had been holding.
As the tension drained from his entire body, stiffness and exhaustion surged over him.
Climbing such a steep cliff while carrying a heavy load could only be described as madness.
When he had first risen from his sickbed and begun training, he had become completely absorbed in the pleasure of watching his body improve and his stamina increase.
But as the training continued, it had become genuinely agonizing.
It was bloody training meant to force him beyond his limits.
Every single day, he wanted to quit.
Whenever he finished training, curses came out naturally.
That was especially true on days like this, when his training involved extreme danger.
“Damn it! Fuck this! I’m done! I’m never training again. If I ever do this again, I’m a barking son of a bitch. A dog.”
He lay there for some time.
Eventually, Baek Socheon’s breathing settled.
Then, from deep within his heart, he heard the unforgettable echo of that day.
—Three years will be enough. By then, you will realize that what I told you was true.
Baek Socheon’s eyes snapped open.
He made a barking sound as he sprang to his feet.
“Don’t make me laugh. I’ll prove that everything you said was wrong.”
Baek Socheon abruptly stood and opened the leather pack he had thrown aside.
It was stuffed with all manner of objects, like some kind of treasure pouch.
Baek Socheon pulled out guards meant to be worn around the wrists and shins.
At a glance, they looked like protective equipment, but they had been forged from steel for training purposes.
Baek Socheon strapped them to his arms and legs, then moved his body around to test them.
“Ugh, these are damn heavy.”
His training had now advanced to the next stage.
Resolving that he would not remove them even if his life was in danger, he next pulled a thick martial arts manual from the leather pack.
The title had been erased, making it impossible to identify the manual, but its contents concerned internal energy and cultivation methods.
It had been read so many times that it was practically falling apart.
Baek Socheon sat at the edge of the cliff and began reading.
“Couldn’t they have written this more simply?”
At times, he grumbled.
“Ah!”
At other times, he exclaimed in admiration.
He read the manual he had studied over and over for the past three years with the same intensity as though he were seeing it for the first time.
Just then, the moon quietly emerged from behind the clouds, lending a small measure of light to the will of a man determined to find a path somehow.
Baek Socheon’s efforts continued until daybreak.
***
“What? Tae Jeong is dead?”
Wang Gon had just returned from several days away with Cheuk Su when news of the Taejeong Faction reached him.
“Yes. Tae Jeong is dead, and several of his subordinates have been arrested.”
The sudden news left Wang Gon feeling more dumbfounded than shocked.
“What the hell happened?”
His subordinate explained the circumstances, but Wang Gon still could not understand.
“So his men were arrested and taken to a Martial Alliance branch…”
He could not understand even that much.
How could wolves possibly be locked inside a chicken coop?
Fine.
He could force himself to accept that part somehow.
But the truly incomprehensible part came next.
“Tae Jeong went to retrieve his men and got himself killed? And not even by the branch leader, but by one of the bastards under him?”
“That is correct.”
“Are you certain?”
“Yes!”
“Hah.”
Just as the rumors claimed, the Shinhwa Guild stood behind the Taejeong Faction.
Most orthodox sects kept their distance from local underworld factions, claiming that associating with them would damage their authority and reputation.
The Shinhwa Guild, however, had expanded its influence by first seizing control of underworld factions throughout each region.
From the perspective of a major sect, the money circulating through such local factions might seem like pocket change stolen from children.
But that was a naïve view of reality.
The amount of money earned by a single region’s underworld organizations was staggering.
They infiltrated every corner of ordinary people’s lives and sucked money from them like leeches.
The Shinhwa Guild had taken control of underworld groups throughout Zhejiang Province and firmly attached itself to the flow of their profits.
“Who killed him?”
“A newcomer who recently joined the branch.”
“A newcomer?”
“Yes. They say it was an accident. Tae Jeong was struck by the newcomer’s kick, fell over, and died.”
“What, did he get hit by some Shadowless Kick or something?”
“Well… apparently he fell badly and struck his head.”
“You’re certain?”
“Yes, absolutely. Several people witnessed it.”
“Stupid bastard. Rotten luck, too!”
It had taken a great deal of time and effort to turn Tae Jeong into a dependable pawn.
Men from underworld factions did not become loyal merely because someone overpowered them.
Those good-for-nothing thugs were always prepared to stab their masters in the back.
Just when Tae Jeong had finally become somewhat trustworthy, this had happened.
“But why did this even start in the first place?”
“It began when a man named Beon Saeng from the branch arrested Tae Jeong’s subordinates.”
“Why would that bastard suddenly do something like that after keeping quiet all this time?”
“We do not know that much.”
“First, we need to get the Taejeong Faction running again. Is there anyone who can replace Tae Jeong?”
The identity of the leader did not matter.
As long as he obeyed orders and delivered the proper tribute, Wang Gon would not have cared if a dog chained in the backyard took charge.
“The most likely candidate was the man who accompanied Tae Jeong to the branch, but he died alongside him. The next person capable of leading the organization is a man named Jong Bae, but he is currently being held at the Wencheng Branch.”
Wang Gon shook his head in disbelief.
“They really managed to make a mess of everything.”
“Also, while you were away, Branch Leader Im came to see you.”
“How the hell does that bastard manage his subordinates? I really don’t like him.”
He should have known the moment Im Chung pretended to be incorruptible and refused the hundred-year-old fleeceflower root.
Cheuk Su, who had remained silent until then, spoke.
“I will go and resolve it.”
Wang Gon knew exactly how Cheuk Su would resolve it.
He would obviously threaten Beon Saeng, and if Beon Saeng refused to comply, Cheuk Su would beat him half to death and force him to release Jong Bae.
Wang Gon would have liked nothing more than to order him to do exactly that.
But now was not the right time.
“Don’t make the situation bigger when we have something important ahead of us.”
A major operation in Wencheng was approaching.
It was the most important moment on his path to advancement.
He could not allow trouble to grow at a time like this.
“Then what should we do?”
Wang Gon narrowed his already small eyes as a vile idea came to mind.
“At times like this, we must handle matters with refinement.”
***
That afternoon, an unexpected visitor came to the Wencheng Branch.
“Oh, Sister-in-law!”
The visitor was Madam Ju, the wife of Branch Leader Im Chung.
When Im Chung heard that his wife had arrived, he stepped out of his office.
“Huh? What brings you here?”
His wife almost never visited the branch.
“I came because of this.”
She held out a small wooden box.
The moment Im Chung saw the familiar object, his expression stiffened.
He did not need to open it to know what was inside.
It was the very same hundred-year-old fleeceflower root Wang Gon had attempted to give him.
“Someone came to the house and left this with me.”
The man who had delivered the box had been a frightening-looking martial artist.
Worried that she might have accepted something she should not have, Madam Ju had come all the way to the branch.
Seeing her husband’s hardened expression, she asked anxiously,
“Nothing is wrong, is it?”
“No. Don’t worry and go home. Leave this here.”
“Are you sure everything is all right?”
“I told you it is.”
Madam Ju turned away reluctantly.
Her feet were slow to move because she instinctively sensed that something had gone wrong.
“I don’t know what is happening, but please be careful, dear.”
“I will. Get home safely.”
Im Chung tried not to show it, but his rage had already reached the top of his head.
Going all the way to his home had been an unmistakable threat.
Giving the hundred-year-old fleeceflower root to his wife meant he was being offered a choice.
Would he accept it and do as he was told?
Or would he place even his family in danger?
“That son of a bitch. I let too much slide.”
He might tolerate other things, but he could never forgive anyone who involved his family.
Beon Saeng approached and asked,
“That smells fragrant. What is it?”
“You don’t need to know.”
Im Chung picked up the box and headed outside.
“Where are you going?”
But Im Chung left without answering.
It was the first time Beon Saeng had ever seen him looking so agitated.
“What could possibly have made him that angry?”
Baek Socheon, who had been watching, abruptly spoke to Beon Saeng.
“Are you close with the branch leader?”
“Of course I am.”
“Then follow him.”
“Why?”
“If a martial artist is carrying a box containing a hundred-year-old fleeceflower root and is that furious, something must have gone very wrong.”
“What? That was a hundred-year-old fleeceflower root?”
Baek Socheon had accurately identified what was inside merely from its scent.
“Can you guess who gave it to him?”
Beon Saeng nodded.
He had recently encountered someone capable of handing out something so valuable.
He could more or less guess what had happened.
The Shinhwa Guild had offered it as a bribe, but Im Chung had refused.
So the Shinhwa Guild had taken it directly to his house.
Beon Saeng knew better than anyone that Im Chung lived entirely for his family.
That was why he was so angry.
They had dragged his family into the matter.
“Then you probably know where the branch leader went.”
“Yes, I think I do.”
“Go.”
Beon Saeng found it difficult to move.
Even if he ran after Im Chung, what help could he possibly be?
The result would be the same even if he took every martial artist in the branch with him.
Wang Gon had far more subordinates, and they were not afraid of Martial Alliance warriors.
Cheuk Su, who constantly remained at Wang Gon’s side, was especially terrifying.
At the moment, the only person Beon Saeng felt he could trust was Baek Socheon standing before him.
“Aren’t you coming, Brother?”
“Why would I?”
“One of your coworkers may be heading into danger.”
“We’ve only worked together for a few days. How are we coworkers?”
“But you and I are close, aren’t we?”
“While you stand there lost in that delusion, your branch leader is probably already in danger.”
“Ah! You’re seriously too much!”
Beon Saeng ran outside.
The sound of his hurried footsteps faded away, only to return a moment later.
The door flew open, and Beon Saeng shouted.
Desperate to bring Baek Socheon with him, he had finally found the answer.
“I’m not asking as your younger brother. I’m giving you an order as your superior officer at the branch. We’re deploying.”
Beon Saeng pleaded with an anguished look in his eyes.
‘Please help me.’
Only then did Baek Socheon rise from his seat.
“An order, huh… Fine. A Martial Alliance warrior should naturally obey orders, shouldn’t he?”